"We'll probably end up passing more gun bills" that expand owners' rights "than we did during the Republican administration," said Rep. Carolyn McCarthy, D-N.Y., a leading gun control advocate. "That is what surprises me."

She placed less blame on the White House than on ordinary Americans and advocacy groups that are consistently outflanked by gun owners' groups, especially the National Rifle Association.

"Until the American people say enough is enough, and get active in it," Democratic control of Congress and the White House will not be enough to turn the tide, said McCarthy, whose husband was killed by a gunman in 1993.

Will the American people ever say, "Enough is enough" ?

__________________Hook686

When the number of people in institutions reaches 51%, we change sides.

My advice to Rep. McCarthy is to start enforcing the laws that already exist that make murder a criminal act!! My heart goes out to her for her loss, but making the GUN illegal will not stop the MURDER! Murder is already illegal, what's getting an illegal gun compared to that?? Yet another elected official who cannot see the forest for the trees:

Gun control limits the people that are law abiding, while doing nothing to stop crime. She's talking about making laws that are actually aimed at people who are not criminals, while doing nothing to curtail criminal behavior!!

How self deluded do you have to be to think that you are the one that is in the right even when your own party recognizes that the people of this country have seen through your scare tactics and illogical ideas? At what point do you stand back and say "everyone is telling me I am wrong...maybe I am wrong."?

Rep. Lynn Woolsey of California is another Democrat frustrated by the gun debate. When she asks colleagues why they don't support tougher restrictions, she said, they reply, "You just don't get it, Woolsey. You don't have our districts."

"It has to do with being afraid they'll lose their election if they stand up against guns," she said.

What ? Is that the sound of a representative republic working properly I hear ?

Someone in congress is actually voting with the voice of the people, because they know if they keep pushing their own agenda instead of the real issues people are gonna throw em' out...That looks like a good sign to me.

__________________
WITHOUT Freedom of Thought, there can be no such Thing as Wisdom; and no such Thing as public Liberty, without Freedom of Speech. Silence Dogood

Isn't is amazing the influence 3,000,000 NRA members have on 303,000,000 US citizens. Less than 1% of the population ruling the country on gun control issues.

Actually, isn't the NRA about 5 million? Remember that most people in this country do not think of gun right as being a hot button issue. Even people who claim that they are for more restrictions on guns are more likely to vote for a candidate on other issues that are more important to them.

Many NRA members are the 1%ers of the gun world. Those are the voters who vote based on the gun issue. Keep in mind that the Dems are claiming a landslide victory in the last election, but the margins were thinner than they like to admit.

It is really quite astonishing that the members of Congress quoted in the article apparently see nothing wrong with publicly voicing their dismay that the majority of the public and our elected representatives do not support the pet beliefs of a few members of Congress.

Rep. Lynn Woolsey of California is another Democrat frustrated by the gun debate. When she asks colleagues why they don't support tougher restrictions, she said, they reply, "You just don't get it, Woolsey. You don't have our districts."

I wish Rep. Woosley would also be kind enough to tell us which representatives are only voting for gun rights because they fear losing their seat. I appreciate all pro-gun votes; but I appreciate the sincere ones that would tell Rep. Woosley that she has a bad idea even more.

Isn't is amazing the influence 3,000,000 NRA members have on 303,000,000 US citizens. Less than 1% of the population ruling the country on gun control issues.

I'm not sure what the real membership number for the NRA is, but keep this in mind: there are a lot of gun owners who don't like or appreciate the NRA, and some even go so far as to hate or detest the NRA. But those people who own guns, yet don't belong to the NRA, still vote. Many of them are likely to vote with their gun rights in mind. So, while the NRA is a force in politics and scares the gun control politicians, there is also a large, unorganized force out there whom they overlook at their own peril. Many democrats finally figured it out. Some of them, like McCarthy, haven't figured it out, and it's likely that they never will.

__________________
"If you love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, go home from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains set lightly upon you and may posterity forget that ye were our countrymen." Samuel Adams.

I'm not sure what the real membership number for the NRA is, but keep this in mind: there are a lot of gun owners who don't like or appreciate the NRA, and some even go so far as to hate or detest the NRA. But those people who own guns, yet don't belong to the NRA, still vote. Many of them are likely to vote with their gun rights in mind.

*waves*

Howdy!

(more on the "don't like or appreciate" end of the scale, not so much "hate or detest")

I don't think that's the right interpretation in the context of the quote. IMHO she's trying to say that "ordinary Americans" are being "outflanked" by the NRA. Of course, how the NRA sneaks around in the dark and "outflanks" people is somewhat puzzling to me.

OTOH many of the newer Dems in the House come from moderate districts populated by "ordinary American" voters who support the Democratic platform on health care, environmental, and social welfare issues, but IMHO don't support many issues championed by old-school left-wing Democratic standard-bearers, such as gun control, Affirmative Action, and heavy regulation of small business.

Mrs. McCarthy and the other members of the "old school" need to adjust to the new reality.

__________________
"Smokey, this is not 'Nam. This is bowling. There are rules... MARK IT ZERO!!" - Walter Sobchak

So if those who vote in favor of gun rights are the small group of extremists that Rep. McCarthy would have us believe, why do her Democratic colleagues need to worry about re-election if they support gun control. As has been pointed out, there are a lot of people who vote for 2A that don't belong to the NRA. I suspect there are a lot of NRA members whose spouces never joined yet still vote the same way. My own father let his membership lapse because he got tired of the junk mail, but he'll vote against the first politician to votes for a gun ban. Likewise, anti-gunners also have to compete with groups like GOA, JPFO, etc. While the NRA is probably one of the loudest and best known voices in the gun control debate, they certainly aren't the only one.

Now we know why the NRA is so against any assault weapons ban. They need those evil black rifles to "sneak around in the dark" to outflank the ordinary, "American Idol"-watching citizens. I mean, you wouldn't want to sneak around in the dark with and evil florescent orange rifle, would you?

__________________
"If you love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, go home from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains set lightly upon you and may posterity forget that ye were our countrymen." Samuel Adams.

I am actually very offended by her elitist attitude that the general population is somehow so stupid that we will go with whatever opinion we are told the most by groups such as the NRA. That we form our opinions solely on what message we hear most often and said most loudly.

I do not usually vote based on gun rights. I just do not feel gun rights are that threatened right now. I feel that civil liberties have been much more damaged and are much more of a concern to me now than gun rights...but I still resent the implication.

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